Policy Institute LGBT Fellows Program
Task Force Policy Institute LGBT Fellows Program to Recognize and Support the Leadership of Scholars of Color Across Disciplines
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force announces its 2008–2009 LGBT Fellows Program at the Policy Institute, designed to put the best independent and academy-based thinkers to work on pressing movement issues. Fellows’ projects will serve to advance the Policy Institute’s primary goals of (1) equipping grassroots leaders with essential tools in the struggle to gain lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) political power and (2) creating new movement conversations and perspectives that lead to innovative strategies and fresh possibilities for change-makers.
Current Initiatives
This year, the Task Force Policy Institute is releasing a major report on discrimination against transgender and gender nonconforming people to assist in the struggle for a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). We are also revising our groundbreaking report, Outing Age, which examines the LGBT aging boom and its impending collision with various agencies and institutions that are wholly unprepared for an influx of LGBT elders. In recent years, we’ve released major reports covering such issues as LGBT homeless youth; the attitudes and material realities of LGBT Asian Pacific Islanders; and the economic status and family arrangements of black and Latino same-sex couple households.
The Policy Institute’s Big Conversations series in 2008 will include a discussion on New Arguments for Liberation, which looks beyond the biological-immutability position as an argument for LGBT civil rights; Queer by the Numbers, a cross-disciplinary discussion for researchers on how we identify and quantify the LGBT communities; and What Makes a Family?, a gathering of LGBT family experts who are thinking about how the ways we frame LGBT “family” is affecting who and what we prioritize in our policy and service work. Other Big Conversations in formation include Where’s the Sex?, a discussion on how assimilative strategies for civil rights have suppressed LGBT practices and expressions of sexuality.
Fellows may propose work that builds on these recent initiatives or propose new, exciting paths that mirror the values and goals outlined above. Tell us what you’re passionate about and what you want to do!
Who Can Apply
The fellowship offers full-time support for two researchers of color:
- A junior scholar: just post-doc, untenured early career university professor or independent researcher.
- A senior scholar: advanced non-tenured or tenured university professor or advanced independent scholar.
Occasionally, candidates who have not had advanced formal academic training may be appropriate for a Policy Institute fellowship.
Scope of the Work
The program is designed to encourage the best LGBT thinkers in the academy and the larger community to apply their work to pressing movement questions and problems. Accordingly, fellows should submit an article or excerpted piece of scholarship and present a plan for a new or applied piece of work that would further the Policy Institute’s central goals. (For additional information on how to apply, please review the “How to Apply” section below.)
Timetable
Applications will be accepted from June 2–Aug. 5, 2008. Fellows will be contacted on a rolling basis and awards will be made by Aug. 15, 2008. The fellowship will run from September 2008 to August 2009.
Benefits
Fellows will enjoy the following benefits:
- A funding level for the fellowship year that makes the program accessible for a wide range of applicants — $30,000 per fellow.
- Flexible residency options to maximize support for each researcher; researchers may work out of the D.C. or N.Y. offices, or if need be, from their home communities.
- The Task Force platform to launch fellows’ work to broader audiences and maximize its impact, including the Web site, e-newsletters, and Policy Institute publications.
- Supervisory support by the Policy Institute director to develop research questions and frame approaches.
- Two formal convenings with peer Policy Institute fellows, advisers and staff to exchange ideas, develop support networks, elicit feedback and collectively explore cutting-edge movement topics including one meeting at the Task Force’s annual National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change.
- Entrée into Task Force networks to develop research ideas and approaches among activists and advocates on the front lines.
- The Task Force communications team’s expertise in publishing and disseminating key research products in both traditional venues and through new media.
Outcomes and Outputs
As the capstone to the fellowship year, fellows will create an article, handbook or other relevant document to be published through the Policy Institute.
How to Apply
- Complete the Policy Institute Fellows Program application, which can be downloaded as a PDF or as a Word document.
- Submit an article or excerpted piece of scholarship and present a plan for a new or applied piece of work that would further the Policy Institute’s central goals.
Applications may be forwarded by e-mail to jgrant@theTaskForce.org
or mailed to:
Jaime Grant
Director of the Policy Institute
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
1325 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005
